Friday, January 25, 2013

I think this past month has been the most full of milestones, yet.Miss Mollie has gained a tooth! And, with it, an appetite! Her little chomper is popping through, and Mollie has finally decided that putting things in her mouth is the way to go. From just a few mouthfuls, she is now keen to chew on just about anything. Her firms faves are anything slightly salty, and soy ice cream. Good, healthy choices for a young lass. (Don't judge me.. she does eat other foods too, promise!)

Mollie is pulling herself up to standing at every chance she gets, and crawling like a champ. Her pincer grip is spectacular, and her pinching one too. (Ouch!) Sleep is, well, let's just say there is room for improvement.. We'll just leave it at that.

So, my girl, you've officially been out as long as you've been in. We're so pleased to have you x

Delicious, delicious ankle rolls.

*This is not Mollie's usual chair, I know. But I had this set up for some Croutons photos and I couldn't resist : )

Monday, January 21, 2013

I have finally gotten around to photographing the remaining Toast Clothing items, and getting them ready for a FB sale.The lucky last 20 items will be up for sale on my Toast page at 8pm NZ time tomorrow (Tuesday the 22nd). Get amongst it, if you feel so inclined : )

It has been really interested, looking back through all of these things. They are all items I made for the last Craft 2.0 I attended. It was a whirlwind of a weekend. My beloved Grandpa died while we were driving there, and it was awful to be so far away from my family at such an important time. The market itself was not a roaring success (perhaps due to my mindset?), and when I got home I didn't unpack for three months. It was the end of me sewing for grown-ups.

Photographing these has been quite therapeutic. I've been able to see the clothing for what it is, and feel quite proud of it all. I've been inspired to include some applique into the Croutons kids stuff, too.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

In alignment with my New Years resolution (quality over quantity!), and due to my distinct lack of shopping while we were in Wellington, I have been doing my fair share of online shopping so far this month... handmade, of course!

Firstly, I was lucky enough to nab a few things in the Silver Circus sale on Facebook. This wee tee is a firm favourite, and I look forward to Mol fitting into her harem style pants and the other tees I got for the coming seasons!

Secondly, I got two outfits from one of my all-times faves: Hikkepik. Otto was kind enough to model the bubble romper for me! Heh. I LOVE it. Mollie should fit both outfits next Summer.I was also lucky enough to sign up for the 'Creative Pay It Forward' on Joke's FB page, and she sent me these amazing angel wings! I had admired them at her stall last month, and wished I had bought them - so I was over the moon to be gifted them! Mollie wore them for a whole afternoon, too. Always a good sign : )

Last, but certainly not least, I decided at the last minute to snaffle up one of Dear Colleen's vege calenders. I had ummed and uhhed about getting one since she released them, but we always get given a least one calender so I wasn't going to. But then I realised that it is far better to have a calender I LOVE hanging in my house, than a free ho-hum one. Quality over quantity, aye!?

I have loved receiving all these handmade goodies in the mail, and dealing with the sellers. I find it so helpful for my business, too. I get to see how others deal with their customers, how they present their products and the quality of their goods etc, and assess whether I'm doing things exactly how I want them done and take notes on things I want to improve.

Really, the moral of this post is that buying handmade is AWESOME. But you knew that, right?

Saturday, January 12, 2013

I have been decluttering my house. This is always a good thing, for two reasons. A) I have less things around me, I feel lighter and happier. B) The thrift karma from donating carloads of stuff is quite amazing.It might seem a little silly to get rid of a tonne of belongings, only to be stoked to come home with replacements, and it is probably. But I comfort myself in the fact that the majority of my op shop purchases these days are Croutons-related, meaning they will (eventually) leave as something else, or can at least be counted as business expenses.

This wee case was something I needed to umm and uhh over a little. I have quite a few suitcases now, and am not in dire need of a new one - but it was $2 and I remembered that I needed something to store my patterns in, because my current system is not working.This used to be a sewing machine case, in it's past life, and the extender arm, feet and manual are still in it. Even the warranty for the machine is here! Anyone have a Husqvarna machine and need bits and pieces for it?

I rarely ever find tapestries in the op shop anymore. Today I found a big pile of them! I, in my desire to strive for quality over quantity, only took half of them. They are quite big ( my feet are in the picture for size reference!) and I'm picturing oversized tote style bags..

And, finally, my usual weak spot - fabric. There are some real treasures in this pile. The bottom piece is a thick linen type fabric, covered in big peacocks, the purple floral feels like it might be silk.. and all the pieces are quite big (well over a metre, some of them a few metres). Score!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

My memory card seems to be full of little snippets at the moment. A photo here, a photo there. Things are so busy that I only manage to snap one or two shots of each activity. Sooo, a wrap up post it is!

On New Years Eve we were lucky enough to meet our new nephew. Baby Liam was born two months ago, but lives in Auckland, so we were yet to get any snuggles.I am happy to report, that he is just as delicious in the flesh as he looked in photos. He has the perfect wee 'old soul' frown, and is one of those good, solid bubs who are perfect for smooching. Mollie was quite taken with him, too.We had a lovely evening with his parents and older brother, too. Love those guys!

Otto's new alter-ego 'Denty'. Picture says it all, really.

So, so much delicious food being eaten around here. Entirely too much of it, but soooo good. It has been bbq mania, as Summer always it. I love the social aspects of barbeques - nothing better than sitting round a table with loved friends or family and, somehow, this seems to happen far more often for us over Summer.

Even Mollie has had a few mouthfuls of food this past week! Not much, mind, but it is a start. The funny little lady is still not really interested in actual food, but it would appear she is quite fond of sucking potato chips, crackers and Vegemite toast. (It would appear my parenting ideals are slipping too, the boys didn't have salt at all before the age of one! Heck, Aesop was organic 'til his first birthday - good ole third baby...)

In keeping with our ' quality over quantity' resolution, not many things have entered our house in the past week. The few things that have, have been pretty neat.The 'Mother' trio was a Sallies find. $5! Who could turn that down? I sorted out my china cabinet to make space for it.The stereo was a big purchase.After staying at Rachelle and Mark's place over Christmas, we were determined that we, also, would have a cool stereo. So we just flat out copied, and got one the same (different colour though, that counts for something, aye? hah). Since taking this photo, the turntable has been popped on top, and we have already listened to hours of great music. I'm in love!

I'm not a beach fan, but the rest of the family are. And well, yesterday was so hot that I gave in and we all ventured over the hill. The water was quite rough, but Aesop ventured out into the waves with his trusty boogie board. Abraham followed, while I stayed by the stream with the littlies. Mollie had her first play in the sand, and wee dip in the water - She was underwhelmed. Hah. Might be a bit little yet to get overly excited about such things.

Monday, January 7, 2013

The festive season has been extra good to us this year. We've had three rounds of Christmas.We had the first, on Christmas Day, with just us and the kids. They had their presents and we all enjoyed some amazing food. Then, we had a beautiful evening at my parents house last week. The kids had their gifts from them, and Aesop handed out the gifts he had chosen for us all. We had a beautiful butterflied lamb and salad, with rhubarb cake and fruit salad for afters. Divine.

On Saturday, Abraham and I had our own wee celebration. The boys went to Mum and Dad's for the night, so we cooked another delicious meal, and exchanged our gifts.LOVE this whole 'dragging out' of Christmas - totally doing it again next year.

The gifts were wrapped lovingly, and very carefully chosen.

We took turns, undoing bows and revealing treasures. And, oh my, what treasures to be had!

Abraham gifted me the two Adele albums on vinyl, some new
knickers, a julienne peeler (I requested this one... he's not making
suggestions about getting into the kitchen.. haha), an incredible
colouring book annnnd a Lego dress designer set! So perfect. Can you see that Lego laptop and Canon-esque camera? So good.

My gifts to Abraham were: A stunning robot cushion by a super clever (and lovely) crafter I was lucky enough to meet down in Masterton, Geek Dad book (this review was the reason for this..) and a Razorwyre record. Razorwyre is a metal band (think Iron Maiden styles.. big hair, skintight jeans..) and Abraham went to high school with the lead singer.

We chowed down on perfectly cooked eye fillet, fresh coleslaw and spicy wedges for tea, and fruit salad with soy icecream for sweets. And it was sweeeeet. Might have been my favourite Christmas so far : )

Friday, January 4, 2013

Mollie8 MonthsSo, this post got a bit lost in the fluster of getting ready for our big trip. But I couldn't very well skip it altogether, so here it is! Voila!Mollie was 8 months old three days before Christmas.Mol is well and truly on the move now - crawling like a pro, and pulling herself up on everything she can reach. She is still a little unsteady on her feet though ( thank goodness!) so hoping walking might hold off a little longer. Actually, truthfully, I'm hoping she's like her brothers and waits til one and a half, but I highly doubt that!There are still no teeth to be seen, and still no interest in solids. Breastmilk is the only thing passing this young ladies' lips. Actually, that's not quite true - yesterday she did suck on a piece of toast for the first time, I'm just not getting my hopes up. Hah. Both the boys had teeth and were showing down bigtime by 8 months. So funny how different kids can be.

We're winning at sleeping. Not going to jinx it by going into detail!

Mollie adores dancing to music, swinging, hanging out in the boys' room, exploring and anything that involves her brothers.

Couldn't resist also sharing these pictures from Boxing Day. Can you spy a baby mid that amazing Dee*Luxe doll, and that giant piece of broccoli-in-a-dress?

Thursday, January 3, 2013

1. To listen to more music.This one is a non-selfish one.
I want my children to remember their childhoods filled with music, like I remember mine. I want certain songs to represent certain events for them, like they do for me.
Abraham always has music playing when he is home, but I find it hard to have more than one type of noise at a time (i.e children yelling and Adele crooning..) Also just remembering to change the record/start the playlist etc. So this is going to take some effort on my part.

2. To take more pride in my appearance.I do alright. I never leave the house in trackies and I rarely go without a shower, but I could definitely put in a little extra effort.
Rather than promise myself I'll lose weight, because that never works, I want to work what I have to maximum potential. This means actually reapplying my nail polish when it is all flaking off, getting my haircut more than three times a year and doing something more effective about my increasing population of stray hairs. Hmmph.

3. 'Quality over quantity'.
This is a bit of a blanket resolution. It applies to everything in my life: possessions mainly, but also food, social activity, op shopping etc.
I want to declutter, and also replace some of our household things with nicer, better quality versions. I want to reduce my thrifting to things I truly need or love, and reduce the energy I spend on relationships/social activities that don't bring me joy and satisfaction.

Happy New Year, lovelies!
I'm really excited for 2013. I have a feeling it's going to be excellent.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

We decided to do something a little different for Christmas this year. We had a bit of a talk, and decided that that kids really didn't need a whole swag more toys, or knick-knacks, to fill their rooms with, but that a super cool holiday would be a great gift for the whole family. I put the question on Facebook: ' Where would be awesome for a family holiday?' and had a lot of really great suggestions - and a completely generous offer.My dear sweet friend Rachelle, who I met through blogging and doing Craft 2.0 (many moons ago, when Aesop was tiny!) offered us her house in Wellington for a week over Christmas! She said they were close to town, had sky t.v, a trampoline and, most importantly, a suitcase of Lego. SOLD!

It was a bit of a mish getting organised (more so due to the craft market in Greytown the weekend beforehand..) and we were pretty gutted to be spending Christmas without any family around (Mum and Dad originally were going to join us, but couldn't..) but we were so excited to be heading off on a huge adventure.

The car trip down was what I was most nervous about, I think. Our kids had never done a long drive before, and I feared they would spend the entire time nagging and bickering. I packed bags for the boys, filled with activities (stickers, notebooks, pens, treat foods, magazines etc) and doled those out each half hour or so. They also had the PSP and Ipod to play on in short bursts, and plenty of healthy snacks to munch on.You know what? They were AMAZING. I don't think there was a single whinge the entire journey. We managed to only stop two or three times, for ice blocks and toilets, and the whole trip only took 8 hours. Score!

The home we stayed in was so beautiful. Rachelle and Mark have spectacular taste (I would have loved to have done a whole blogpost about the house, but sharing their home with the world wide web might be a small invasion of privacy! Hah). They were also kind enough to decorate a tree for us! What a treat.The boys were so stoked to stay somewhere that was full to the brim of cool toys and to sleep in bunks 'just like at home', Aesop even asked if we could move in!(Otto though, funny boy, missed home A LOT. Every morning when we asked him what he wanted to do that day, he would say 'Go home to Whakatane!' Such a homebody. )

Our Christmas day was a quiet one. We ate delicious food, the kids opened a few gifts (Carefully showing each one to Nana and Koro through the webcam!) and we spent a lot of time relaxing and playing. Aesop received the boxed set of Harry Potter books he requested, and Otto got his PSP (Thank goodness Santa had some luck on Trademe!). Mollie was lucky enough to recieve a Dee*Luxe doll as her gift from Santa. She was nearly as stoked as I was. Heh.We popped down to Te Papa in the afternoon, and wandered around the exhibitions. Who would have thought the museum would open on Christmas day? Pretty smart. I really recommend visiting on Christmas, if you're ever in Wellington. It was lovely and not nearly as busy as usual!

The rest of our week was spent doing wonderful, touristy things around the city. We popped back to Te Papa to seen the History of Gaming exhibition (Abraham and Aesop loved it - we soon realised it was not so suitable for under 5s, so the rest of us weren't so thrilled), we spent a day at Wellington Zoo, walked about Cuba Street, Visited the, very busy, Weta Cave and generally enjoyed ourselves.

I must note though, that Wellington is a very different place with three kids.All of the things I imagined doing - eating sushi off a conveyor belt, shopping at Iko Iko, eating at cafes etc - were not suitable at all. It was very much more of a McDonalds on the run, and toys from the Warehouse sort of a holiday. Perhaps when the kids are older those things might be more realistic? I hope so!

The trip home went nearly as swimmingly as the trip there.We stopped in at the Army Museum in Waiouru, which was fabulous. Yes, even ole gun-hating Mama over here thought it was great. It's very well done, super informative and well, the perfect spot for a break in the trip. Highly recommend that place!And we made it home just in time to pop the kids into bed and fall onto the couch in a heap. Three weekends in a row of long drives has meant we've had a tonne of fun, but now some, well-earned, relaxing time at home is in order.